CS for CS for SB 524 - Election Administration Summary

• Creates the Office of Election Crimes and Security within the Department of State to receive complaints and conduct preliminary investigations into alleged election law violations and irregularities, with annual reporting requirements to the Governor and Legislature.

• Prohibits ranked-choice voting in all elections and voids any existing local ordinances authorizing its use.

• Changes registration list maintenance from biennial to annual requirement and modifies procedures for identifying voters who have moved, including new address confirmation processes in odd-numbered years.

• Increases criminal penalties for vote-by-mail ballot violations, petition fraud, and petition circulator violations from misdemeanors of the first degree to felonies of the third degree.

• Renames "secure drop boxes" to "secure ballot intake stations," restricts their placement to supervisor offices, early voting sites, and qualifying permanent branch offices, and requires continuous in-person monitoring.

• Requires third-party voter registration organizations to inform applicants on registration applications that delivery may take up to 14 days, and increases the annual fine cap for violations from $1,000 to $50,000.